The Legend of Roland (Revised Edition)
by X2117
Summary: When a member of the elite Spartan Headhunters drops into Korra's world, the young avatar is forced to make decisions that she never would have imagined. Rated M for language, gore, and adult scenes.
1. Prologue

**The Legend of Roland- Updated and Matured**

 **It's been five years since I wrote this story, and it is still near and dear to my heart. Instead of finishing Ashes to Ashes, I'm working on updating this. After five years in the Marine Corps, I feel my writing didn't age well and I can do a lot to spruce it up. I** **decided it needed an update to mature the content/language and fix some errors. It will have the same general plot as my first work, but may vary as it matures. Please feel free to read over the Legend of Korra Chapters concurrently to see the changes. This will be a slow updating story...**

 **None of these characters are my own.**

 **Prologue**

 _Pain. It wraps my mind in screaming agony._

 _Pain. Worse than any blamite fragmentation I've ever had._

 _Pain. Like a million ants, all with tiny flamethrowers crawling and burning through my back and chest. With sobs of agony I manage to look down at the two plasma sword blades protruding from my chest. They are both blood red, which my mind grabs and won't let go of like a toddler playing with a new toy. Elites have always been seen with blue blades, and this can't be my blood changing the color._

 _No, my blood is burnt and my insides are cooking. I can't feel right my arm or hand and every breath feels like there is a brute standing on my chest squeezing the air out of my lungs and not allowing them to refill._

" _This place is dead anyway." That is the last thing I remember hearing. My own words were resounding in my ears as the smell of burning flesh fills my nostrils and blood splashed from my mouth onto the inside of my visor. It doesn't belong there. That is my blood. Blood is supposed to go on the outside from my slain foes not inside my visor. I see the red blip on my motion tracker that is my foe, it's fully blocking own my own blue IFF transponder. My eyes shut to try to block out the pain even if it's for just a moment._

 _Alarms from my helmet are blaring. Did I freeze again? Did Jonah survive? I have to open my eyes…._

Roland fought his eyes opened. His throat felt like it was on fire with the rest of his body. He saw Jonah crouched slightly aiming at him. Well, more appropriately he was aiming at the Elite behind him that had him impaled and lifted two feet off the ground. More blood spilled out of Roland's mouth and down his chin as he willed his lips to utter one last word.

"Clear…" It was cracked and strained to the point that Roland didn't even recognize his own voice, but the message was understood. The explosives Roland had laid in the compound were primed and ready for detonation.

He saw Jonah roll his shoulders as if preparing to fight and heard something over the shared comms. "Let's start this party. I'm late for a hot date, and I don't want to keep your sister waiting." Roland tried to grin. He tried to say anything else to Jonah, even if it was just his final parting shout to his only friend and brother in arms. Jonah was lethal. As much as Roland hated to admit it, he was far more dangerous to the Covenant than Roland could ever be. If anyone could walk away from this fight, it was Jonah.

The elite laughed. The sound sent chills down Roland's screaming spine. Elites didn't laugh normally, and the sound was very foreign coming from them. It wasn't joyful or continuous, more like a terrifying guttural chuckle. One of an individual who is entering a fight, already knowing how it is going to end. With a vicious swing, the Elite freed his sword from Roland's body by driving it up and to the right, completely severing his shoulder and arm. With a gurgling gasp and Roland fell to his knees and then onto his side. In his peripheral vision, he saw five more red blips appear on his motion tracker.

 _I'm not saying you're a bad guy Jay, I just wouldn't trust you with my kids._

Roland regretted each of those words. Oh how he wished he could take them back. He wished this was all just a retarded exercise and the armor lockup was slowly wearing off while the instructors plotted how to make them pay for failing, but it wasn't. He was dying now and he knew it.

Roland saw the massive two toed foot of the Elite who had been his death step in front of him. Mud oozed around his foot, and then flung back up at Roland's visor as the Elite slowly stepped to close the gap with Jonah. Meanwhile two others stalked forward, ready to support their leader and kill this human filth that was Roland's teammate. Jonah stood up straighter and laughed. He was the only man Roland could ever imagine would laugh in the face of six special operations Elites ready to murder him and fully mean it. "Ya bastards set this up, for us! I'm flattered."

"You can sense you end human…" The Elites guttural voice echoed across the open plain from his helmet. They had all disabled their active camouflage, boldly stalking Jonah now, like lions surrounding a single zebra on the African plains.

"Meh, maybe. Maybe not… This here ends in one of two ways, chief." Jonah held up his index and middle fingers before the squad in front of him. "I walk out of here with your teeth, hanging around my neck, or…" Jonah dropped the index finger, flipping off the squad in front of him "I die with my fist down someone's throat."

The two Elites who went wide were nearly on line with Joanh now. "Surrender yourself for inquisition and your death will be as painless as we can make it." The Elite on the left spat. He was lying through his twisted mandibles. Those Elites would do everything they could to get secrets out of Jonah before murdering him in the most gruesome way possible.

Roland watched his blood pressure and heart rate falling on his HUD as Jonah look directly at his crumpled form, and then back at the Elites. "Twenty credits say's yer all dead in the next… thirty seconds….Take that bet?" As the words resounded in Roland's ears a detonator flew through the air, landing next to the four stationary Elites and Roland. In a flash, Roland watched as his HUD disappeared just like the Elite's energy shields while a near simultaneous barrage of .50 cal bullets riddled the lead Elite as Jonah rolled back to dodged the two Elites who had closed on him.

"Take him!" The Elite roared in anger. Another flash as Jonah discharged a plasma pistol into the left one and smashed his now empty M6C into the one on the right. Causing his shields to flair and then fail from the Spartans impact. By now however, the one who'd taken the brunt of the plasma impact had grabbed him by the wrist and lifted him into the air. Roland heard Jonah scream in pain as his right shoulder was dislocated. The Elite's chest plate flashed into and out of view, the active camouflage unit was trying to reactive but the burns into the chest plate made if flicker on and off almost comically as the Elite with no visible torso lifted the Spartan III into the air.

A sword flashed red across Jonah's visor. Another scream. Roland looked, willing his body to move. He had to help in some way, but his body wouldn't, couldn't move. The second sword wielding Elite stepped up and took Jonah by the neck, about to run him through with the sword.

 _Rolle, light 'em up._

 _Apes or Gators?_

 _You softened him up._

 _Yeah, well, this disease ain't goin nowhere._

 _It was a rhetorical question, asshole._

As Roland lay, crumpled next to the Covenant facility, he could hear Jonah over the comm once more. "When in doubt, blow shit up." The Elites looked at him quizzically. They had removed his M6C, not realizing it was useless when unloaded, but had left the explosive detonator in his left hand that he grabbed after firing the plasma pistol. Every headhunter team carried two detonators, just in case one of the team went down, the mission could still be completed. "Clear." one last time as the world around them began to explode. He saw the fire over take Jonah and the two Elites and roll over the other four. He felt the heat through the breaches in his armor and felt another explosion behind him. A flash, pain that felt as if his guts were being ripped apart and placed outside his body, and then nothing but a small greenish light and cobblestones under his visor before Roland blacked out from loss of blood.

 **Please review! I'll change whatever I can if there are errors.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here is the first chapter! It's super exciting to see everyone welcoming me back. To answer the questions I received about Ashes to Ashes, I still haven't figured out where I want to go next with the story and I'm hoping that be renewing my writing here, I'll discover where I want to go in the sequel!**

 **None of these characters or ideas are mine still.**

 **Chapter One**

Korra had watched in pure horror from the crowd as four benders had their bending mercilessly removed at the Equalist rally. Amon had truly become a terrifying threat to Republic city and she, Bolin, and Mako had barely made it out atop her polar bear dog Naga unscathed.

Presently, they were riding for their lives attempting to escape, but even with the immense danger, Bolin was still managing to complain about being carried in Naga's mouth. "I ju…st don't…understand!… why I…. have the… worst… seat!" He sputtered with the bumps as Naga galloped along, darting through the darkened city streets.

Korra directed her expertly down the narrow alleyways, with hands that had grasped the reigns for years, she pulled up without saying a word to encourage Naga to clear a truck and some boxes that blocked their path. With a huff, the massive creature landed and charged ahead. As they rounded a turn onto the slightly more open and fairly well lit streets, a flash of purplish light and a wave of heat caught the trio unawares. As the flash disappeared heavy and metallic sounding object thumped to the ground. Naga sniffed the air, rolled her ears back on her head and tucked her tail between her legs, trying to turn and run away from this new event. "Easy girl…" Korra coaxed the massive polar bear dog forward.

"Mako, how far have we gone?" she asked as she pulled Naga to a stop in front of the metal hunk. She looked up at the tall buildings around them scanning for a possible ambush and then back to the strange object. It had a humanoid shaped and was illuminated strangely under the greenish hue of the gas street lights. Some form of liquid, maybe an oil seeped out of it and onto the cobblestones below.

Mako looked back the way they came. "Probably two miles, maybe a little more." He too toke in the shape below them. "If no one has followed by now, I don't think they chased us."

Korra nodded and the two of them climbed out of the saddle as Naga set Bolin gently to the ground. "This was definitely not one of my better rides." Bolin tried to dry some of the drool off of his shirt. Naga proceeded to lick him across the face before turning a following Korra towards the object.

"Naga, stay girl." Korra commanded as she cautiously approached the metal man that laid there.

"Korra, shouldn't we get going?" Bolin asked cautiously, as he looked about the dark street. This was a bottleneck, and if the Equalists had followed, all they would have to do is come from both ends and that would be it. He had barely avoiding getting his bending removed and wasn't eager to be in that situation again.

Korra took a few more steps. "Mako, Bolin come look at this." Korra snapped her finger and a burst of fire appeared in her hand, allowing her to see better and gently prod it with her toe.

The two brothers walked over and flanked Korra. All three stood staring at it under the flicker of the orange flames. "It looks like a man." Bolin whispered. He seemed to be a redish color, but a dull red, not like the hot rod reds that many of the satomobiles had now. He was fully encased in a suit with strange markings on it, and from the right side of his chest through his right shoulder was seeping blood, not oil as Korra had previously thought.

"What in the spirits name is it?" Mako asked in a hushed tone, as if he didn't want to awaken it. As he spoke, the chest rose slightly.

Korra reached down to touch the smooth glass face. "I think it is alive…"

"Maybe… we should call the cops and let them try to help it." Bolin reached down and looked at the wound.

Mako glanced around the area again. "No, this could easily be a trap from Amon. He and his men are probably watching about to ambush us."

Korra looked up at the two brothers and placed her hands on her hips in defiance. "No, Bolin. We're not calling the cops, they would take forever to get here." Turning her attention to the older of the two "Mako, we are going to help. He's obviously hurt, and I don't think this is Amon's style." And with that, she tugged on the 'face' of the creature. It budged slightly tugging upwards on the body suit but wouldn't come free. Grunting, Korra pulled harder, but still the helmet remained attached.

"Here, let me try." Mako knelt down and started feeling around the neck of the helmet. "Maybe it's like a probending suit." As he spoke, his finger slipped into the latch socket and he pulled. The helmet eased apart slightly and Korra was now able to slide it off, revealing the face of what looked to be a twenty something year old man. His hair brown was cut short on the sides and about an inch long on top and he was cleanly shaven. His eyes were screwed shut tightly in pain and blood was drying along chin and left cheek where his head had been resting.

As she tried to wipe some of the blood away, air mixed with blood escaped his lips. "See, he is breathing!" Korra exclaimed. Breathing was an overstatement, as it looked more like blood bubbles were coming from his lips, but it was enough for Korra to try. She was the Avatar damn it, and if she couldn't help those benders earlier, at least she could help this man.

Korra grabbed him by his good shoulder and Mako moved to the feet. "We need to move him, Bolin, can you get his bad arm and keep it from moving?" Bolin grudgingly did as he was asked, still looking around waiting for Equalists to come flying in on their motorcycles.

Bolin looked at Korra once he was in position and counted. "One, two, three, lift!" The two of them struggled to get him off the ground a few inches before easing him back down. "What is this made of!" Korra gasped. She bent the earth under him up to waist level, creating a table of sorts with the armored hulk on top.

"What are we going to do? We can't lift him onto Naga." Bolin tried to lift just the legs off the table. With some grunts and groans he got his shoulders under them and lifter like a squat. As he glanced up towards the crotch he saw latches on the back of the thigh plates. "Hey, there are more latches under here!" Bolin shouted happily. His leg slipped back he almost pinned himself under the armored suit if not for Mako grabbing a hold and helping him lower it.

"We can't roll him, but what about this!" Korra lifted him even further into the air and then bent away some of the ear directly under the armored latches, like a satomobile lift in a garage. With a satisfying clunk, the left thigh plates rolled apart and hit the ground almost six feet below.

"Hey, watch it!" Bolin cried as he jumped away from the falling armor plate. "I'm already soaked in drool, I don't wanna lost a toe too!" Mako smirked as he looked around again, still concerned they may have been followed.

"Sorry…" Korra muttered as she worked away. "Do you want to help me?" She requested while grunting against another latch. Bolin slid under the earthen table and soon the two of them were lost in the work of finding latches and removing the armor piece by piece. Within minutes they had removed almost all of it; the scorched chest and back pieces were all that remained. Korra lowered the table back to waist level and grabbed a latch under the left armpit and pulled and the two pieces separated along the seam. Korra and Bolin lifted away the chest piece and the man's body seemed to sag apart at the shoulder wound. The smell hit the trio like a punch in the gut. It was a sickening mix of charred, burned flesh and the sweet metallic scent of large amount of blood that seemed to invade your nostrils and move into the back of your throat where it stayed and swirled around, mixing with every breath that was taken.

"That injury doesn't look good, Korra." Mako held his nose with one hand and wiped some of the blood away to inspect the injury better with the other. The man had been cut completely through by some type of powerful blade. Mako peeled back the body suit near the injury and could see the sliced muscle tendons had been burned like a cauterization, but even so, blood started to pour out of the savage injury. Mako immediately tried put pressure on the wound. Growing up on the streets with his brother, he has learned a good deal of basic first aid out of necessity, but this was so oddly shaped that he couldn't do much.

Korra stepped forward with a small canteen from Naga's saddle. "I can help the injury some here, and then we can move him!" She bent the water out of the canteen and pressed it into the savage gash as it started to glow. With intense focus she felt each of the weeping blood vessels and did her best to repair as many as she could. After a few minutes, the water returned to it's original clear form and Korra relaxed back for a moment. "It's not stopped, but the bleeding is much more under control." She breathed in relief as the wound looked much more controllable now than before.

"Let's try again?" Mako asked as he positioned himself under than man's good shoulder. Korra nodded and gingerly placed her hands under the wounded shoulder and prepared to lift. This time the three of them were able to lift him and place him across Naga on his stomach.

"He has a backpack. Should we bring it?" Bolin grabbed the bag by the straps, but it was magnetically clamped to the back plate.

Korra nodded yes and Bolin stepped over the backplate placed a hand on each side, and lifted with all his strength. Grunting a groaning from exertion, he felt the hardened container give slightly. With a shout, Bolin yanked and the bag broke free of the magnetic bonds. Turning back to the other with a monumental grin on his face, Bolin flexed his arms before throwing them through a strap. He really really had a thing for Korra, and that display of strength had to do something for him.

"Grab as much as you can as well!" Korra said, referring to the armor scattered about.

Bolin shrugged and grabbed an L shaped tool with a rounded guard at the center and pulled a knife free of the sheath on the chest plate. As he stooped to pick up some of the armored plates, he heard engines rev in the distance. Naga's ears perked up and she looked back the way they had come. "Korra…" Bolin muttered in fear. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and he held the backpack strap in a white knuckled death gripas he ran towards Naga and jumped on.

"Let's go girl!" Korra kicked Naga gently with her heels. "We're fine guys!" she lied, knowing that if they had waited much longer the day might be ending quite differently. Somehow they all managed to get back to the Pro Bending Arena where Bolin and Mako lived. With care, they managed to carry the injured man up the stairs to the attic room and place him on the floor.

"He is going to need a doctor." Mako looked the wounds over once more. The entire right shoulder blade seemed to have been sliced through and he wondered what could have caused such an injury.

"Help me get his shirt off." Korra told Bolin as started pulling on the body suit sections.

Bolin tugged away at it, almost like he was unwrapping a present it came off in sections and Bolin piled the sections next to the man. The sickening smell was still there, but had become much fainter either from airing out some, or he was just getting used to it. He removed all of the pieces around the injury, including the cut ones until all that was left was a pair of very short soft black shorts covering up the mans genitals.

Korra looked about the room, and realized just how little time she had spent hanging out in the guys apartment. "Where is the bathroom? I need more water?"

Mako looked at her quizzically "It's right over there." He said, pointing to the door just off of the living space with a towel hanging on the handle.

She threw the door open and struggled to start the shower, before realizing she could use the lower faucet just as well. As the stream of water fell and started to fill the shower basin, Korra bent several gallons of it into a sphere and walked out holding it in front of her. She knelt in front of the man, closed her eyes in concentration, and let the water flow into and around the wound site like Katara had taught her over ten years before. Mako and Bolin just stood there in utter silence, they had never seen a healer at work and it fascinated them both.

Mako was lost in thought about how amazing it would be to be a water bender. To have a gift of bending that could be used to heal and knit people back together and not to destroy like fire. Bolin on the other hand was focused intently on Korra. It was no secret amongst the group that he had a crush on the Avatar. She was completely focused on the wound, her hands slowly caressing the skin around the injury as they moved through the glowing water with a slow rhythm. Bolin couldn't help but wish her hands were touching him in that exact same way.

Korra felt the torn muscle fibers reattaching and healing, starting from the thinnest part of wound low on the chest and rising upwards. The healing water allowed her to press the two sides of his body together, almost like a giant stitch while the process continued. The lung was actually one of the easiest parts for her. Katara had taught her how to heal trauma with injured animals so that they could be let go. She had spent some time learning the nuances of healing lung tissue from working on a young tiger seal that had been mauled by a polar bear dog and was hanging on for dear life when a white lotus guard stumbled onto it. She felt a bead of sweat drip off her brow and into the water, but smiled to herself as she felt the cells coming together once more.

After the lung had been reconnected, she bent the bloody water and fluid up and out of the man's throat as gently as possible, causing him to only cough a time or two. Korra worked on his muscles next, which felt far denser than they appeared. On the surface the man was lean and very fit, but the muscle fibers felt dense and strong, as if the man had been a body builder his entire life. Soon, the muscle and skin finally finished healing up, the injury site was left with only a long thin scar. Korra relaxed back on her heals and wiped her brow. She'd been kneeling over the man for nearly an hour, but he looked significantly better than before. His skin was getting a little bit of color back to it, but his arm still laid there awkwardly. The muscle and flesh was healed, but now Korra had to turn to the difficult part, healing bone.

Taking the water back to the bathroom, she dumped it into the shower basin and let it drain away. "Is he healed now?" Mako asked from the couch. He and Bolin had moved to sit down after realizing that it was going to be a long process.

"I still have to try to nurse his ribs and collar bone back together." Korra shrugged, bending some clean water up into her mouth for a drink. "That will be the boring and long part…" The brother nodded silently. Not a word was said, but there was a mutual agreement to see this thing through.

Korra pulled more water from the bathroom and knelt by the Spartan's side once more. This time, Bolin offered her a pillow and a sheepish grin for having not thought of it earlier. The smile he got from her in return melted his heart a little and he couldn't help his own boyish smile as he sat back down on the couch.

As she tried to focus on the bone, something felt off about it. She was able to move a severed rib back to its mate, but the healing process felt slowed. Like she was trying to glue concrete together without any reinforcements. She nursed some of the fragments together and was able to make the marrow realign and encourage the blood to begin flowing again, but the actual re-connection of the bone itself seemed impossible.

Korra assisted the collar bone back into position as well before opening her eyes and staring at the body before her. The entire body was also covered in pale white scars from cuts and pink rough bubbled portions of skin burns. Many of them seemed to be years old. Almost as if he had been a fighter in a war for years, but he looked as if he was only twenty five or so. Korra hated letting anything defeat her, so she gave the bones one last try. Instead of trying to knit them together as before, she focused intently and tried to just encourage the natural healing of the body. After another thirty minutes of this, the bones were reattaching. As if the body had been healing itself for a week or so. Smirking in victory, she stood up and bent the water back into the bathroom before lifting her arms over her head, taking a deep breath, and stretching deeply.

Mako nudged his drooling brother in the ribs to wake him up. "Is he better?" the Fire bender asked, one eyebrow raised in inquiry.

Korra let out a long sigh and relaxed her arms down before responding. "I've managed to heal everything except for the bones themselves. They feel really different than normal bones, so I've just had to encourage the bodies natural healing abilities." She stepped over the man and walked towards the bathroom the relieve herself. "It can fix him fully, it'll just take me a few more hours."

"Let's let him rest, and I am sure we could all use some as well." Mako hollered as Korra closed the door the the bathroom. He placed a blanket over the man as well as a folded one under his head and sat back down on the couch before looking at the clock by the door. "Bo, it's already three in the morning!" Mako sighed. "Why don't you get some rest and I'll take first watch?"

Bolin seemed to snap out of a near meditative state. "Rest! How can I rest right now?" The kid had the gift of gab, and he'd been sitting mostly quietly for the last several hours. "There is a strange, half dead guy almost naked on our floor and I almost had my bending taken away!" Bolin was almost running about the room now and nearly plowed into Korra as she stepped out of the bathroom with the toilet flushing behind her. "I can't thank you enough. I was ready to piss myself when Amon was all like 'I'm going to take your bending away.' And then he took out the Triple Threat leader." Bolin sat down heavily in a chair. "Thank you both… so much."

Mako looked downward. He couldn't count the number of times he had saved Bolin's butt, however he loved his brother and he was all he had left. He would have given up his own bending in order to save him.

"You're welcome." Korra said absently mindedly as she took off her boots and sat down. She was not really paying attention to Bolin, but instead staring at the man. He was still very pale in complexion, but Korra couldn't tell if it was from loss of blood or from wearing armor and not seeing the sun. His eyes were still closed, but no longer tightly shut in pain.

"And then! We have this guy who's falling from the sky in front of us…" Bolin stood up and nudged him in the leg. "Who do you think he is anyway?"

Mako shot a glance at Bolin. "Maybe if you stop kicking him, he'll wake up and tell us."

Bolin stood straddling the man and leaned over to get a closer look at his face. "Nah, I bet with an injury like that, he won't be awake for days…"

At that moment, the man's eyes shot opened. In less than a second he had scanned the room and assessed the situation. His mind reminded him last time he was conscious he had been severally injured by his enemy. His eyes darted around while Bolin made a soft "Uhhhh" noise. Roland couldn't yet assume this was still a threatening area and so hew as waiting to see what the guy standing over him would do. Bolin tried to back away and raised his hands defensively, which to the newly conscious Spartan seemed enough like a hostile act to send him into action.

Crossing his legs of Bolin's shin, Roland locked him in place before darting one leg out and kicking the earth bender in the chest as hard as he could. This sent Bolin flying back into the wall, crumpling into a heap. Mako and Korra both jumped to their feet from the couch and took up fire bending stances while the Spartan clambered to his feet. His head spun with intense dizziness from his loss of blood and right arm tingled with pins and needles as he tried to use it to tap his temple and get his vertigo under control.

Suddenly the previous events flooded back into his mind. An Elite had run him through, and now he stood here, seemingly whole and fit, just ready to vomit everywhere. Something was very wrong with this situation. Standing there in nothing but silkies, Roland formed a hasty plan. He recognized his backpack leaning against the couch behind some brown boots. If he could grab it, there was a window only two yards away. He could make it out and be gone, figuring out the situation on his own from there. As his body tensed to move, the first words of the encounter were uttered.

"WAIT!" Korra shouted "We are your friends!"

"Well… some of us are." Mako mumbled under his breath, as prepared to blast the guy to kingdom come. He had his fingers ready to shoot lightning at the man's head if he didn't comply. Korra shot him a look that said the comments weren't helping at all.

Roland seemed to ignore both comments. The two both stood in athletic stances, obviously they had martial arts training, but Roland doubted the could make the raw strength of even an unarmored Spartan III.

Bolin stumbled to his feet after hitting the wall. He rubbed his head to clear his vision, but he had unknowingly blocked the Spartans route to the window. "Yeah…. You should definitely listen to them."

Roland looked around once more. "Why should I? I obviously have the upper hand. And while you look like you can fight, I promise I can take you." The man grinned slightly at the trio of teenagers.

Korra raised her eyebrow. She had spent to long stitching this man back together to take him fully apart now, but he was taunting her, and that was something she never allowed. "Oh really?" She shot a glance at Mako and he nodded slightly.

Mako breathed deeply. "Hey Bo, just like in the ring, okay?" Bolin gulped slightly before he moved at all. This time, it was Roland who raised his eyebrows. Bolin dropped his arms and two stone disks that were sitting on the table shot towards Roland's knees. He jumped and rolled over them, grunting in pain as his hurt shoulder hit the ground.

At nearly the same time, Mako and Korra sent blasts of fire towards the man. The disks had been a surprise, but the fire was a shock. These two had shot fire out of their hands at him. Mako and Korra didn't press their attack, hoping the show of force would subdue the man. Unfortunately, they were quite wrong, the Spartan recovered from the forward roll and side checked Korra as he stumbled into the couch and he grabbed his backpack from the ground. He rolled over the backside of the upholstery and took two large steps and lunged the first door he'd seen. It had a towel hanging on the knob and was cracked open slightly.

His eyes took in the new room in an instant and he knew the mistake he had made. It was nothing but a small bathroom with no window and he had turned his back on these strange foes. He spun on his heal and tried this time to make it for the window Bolin was blocking. The same pair of earth disks we shot into his midsection. He managed to flinch before the first hit to absorb the impact, but the second stone forced the air from his lungs. As he threw a left cross towards Bolin's jaw, he simultaneously spun and kicked the wooden frame out of the window. Bolin was able to deflect most of the blow, only allowing Roland's pinky and ring fingers to glance off his face, but it still dove him into the floor and caused him to see stars.

"Stop!" Korra shouted urgently, realizing what he was doing and knowing they were at least 40 feet in the air. Glancing around she bent the only water she had available. The gallon or so of water from the toilet bowl shot out in a water whip and grabbed the Spartans still elevated foot, allowing Korra to spin him onto the ground relatively unharmed. He tried to jump up once more, but Korra froze his leg to the ground, forcing him to a seated position next to a rung bell Bolin.

"Shit." Roland looked down at the ice surrounding his quad, up at the girl who had just done this to him, and then back to his quad as he raised his backpack over his head and smashed it into the ice, causing it to crack, but not shatter.

Mako looked at Korra, and quickly sprinted in to the bathroom and turned on the water as Roland smashed his pack back into the ice. Two large chunks fell off but he still wasn't quite free. "Korra, the water's on!" Mako shouted from the next room.

Roland looked up at the Avatar to see her smirk in triumph as a mini tidal wave of water came rushing out of the bathroom and threw Roland against the same wall he'd tossed Bolin into earlier. Before the Spartan could regain his feet he had been fully encased in ice from the neck down. Korra felt his anger at losing but you'd never have known it from his calm, unblinking face.

"Well, that might have been good to do sooner." Bolin stood stroking his chin where he'd been hit before strutting up to the captured man. "Not so tough now, are ya?" Bolin leaned his face a little too close to his and nearly got a broken nose when the man tried to head but him.

"You really should stop; I don't want to have to freeze your head to." Korra grinned at him. "It's kinda hard to breathe that way."

This time, the Spartan lowered his head and took a cautious breath. "Obviously if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so. I will stand down for now."

Korra looked at Mako, silently asking for a recommendation. "I say we let him _chill out_ for a bit." Bolin said looking him up and down before breaking into laughter at his own dumb joke.

"No… he is not our prisoner" Korra slowly unfroze the water and sent it back into the bathroom, this time keeping it prepared just in case. "let's let him tell his story. What is your name?" Korra inquired as she took a seat.

"UNSC Petty Officer 3rd Class, Roland, Spartan Alpha-258." Roland looked them over again. "Where am I, who are you, and who's in charge?"

"UNSC?" Bolin looked at the others and whispered with his hand in front of his mouth. "Spartan?… I think this guy is a wacko."

"I'm Korra, this is Mako," She point to the older brother who simply dipped his head in a greeting, "and that is his younger brother, Bolin." who huffed loudly, still sore from the cross he'd taken to the chin. "Welcome to Republic City."

Roland looked them over once more and walked to the window, reconnoitering a good way out as he talked. "Something tells me I'm not from around here." He muttered as he looked down. The drop was pretty high, but he figured that with a solid jump, he might have made it into the water below.

Korra walked up next to him and touched his hurt shoulder, causing him to flinch and for the brothers to both jump to their feet again in bending stances. "Well, we saw a flash, and you were lying in the middle of the street, bleeding." Korra explained as she felt the wounds again, checking to see if any bones had shifted.

"How did I get there?" Roland was confused and worried about Jonah as he checked his own shoulder now. "Why is my shoulder alright? Last time I checked, I should have died from my wounds, and now I am about to fight and jump out a window."

"I really have no idea how you got there, and I was healed you." Korra smiled proudly with her hands behind her back and leg crossed slightly. "I couldn't get the bones quite right, but I got everything fixed up as best as I could."

"Huh, you must have some sort of medicine here." Roland looked out the window again towards Republic City itself. The town was illuminated in a soft gold color of the older style lights. At three in the morning there were few people about, but it was still a beautiful city for sure. Far better looking than the scorched out glassed cities on most human planets now.

"We saved your bag." Bolin walked forward in a sign of peace and handed Roland his hard shelled backpack that had been cast aside. "I tried to get into it, but there aren't any latches. I didn't want to smash it opened."

Roland nodded his thanks and took the container. He wanted to know where his armor and helmet were, but that would have to wait. So far it seemed as though he could trust these people, so he set out to get to know them. He pressed the button one the rucksack down and then twisted the half moon shape to unlock it and then sat cross legged as he emptied the contents in the middle of the floor.

"So, who exactly are you?" Korra sat across from him. Completely intrigued by this new person in her life.

"I'm a member of the UNSC. A solider of kinds…" Roland answered cryptically, trying to not tell anyone classified information. Roland pulled out nine loaded magazines for his M6C from the pack and laid them on the floor. He had stored them in the side compartment when he picked up the Covenant Carbine shortly before he was injured. Each containing twelve rounds of .50 ACP, but without a pistol, they were completely useless.

"What is a UNSC?" Bolin sat on the couch, showing interest in all of the green, black, and grey items the Spartan had dumped out.

This was far harder than Roland thought. He had never really had to dissect what he was before with anyone who wasn't cleared for Top Secret Information. Honestly, he had never had to talk to anyone other than Jonah and an odd senior briefing officer or fellow enlisted man during a fight. "The UNSC is the United Nations Space Command, like a Navy." He answered truthfully.

"Like the United Forces?" Bolin inquired. Roland responded with a shrug. "They are a new military arm that has formed, a combination of the three nations."

Roland nodded in an understanding way. "Then yes, sort of like your United Forces… So there are three nations here?" He asked. It made sense to him. One of them threw fire, one earth, and the girl could use water. Three elements, three nations.

"Almost." Korra corrected him. "There are four nations, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads, plus a fifth free state, called the New Republic where anyone is welcomed."

Again, Roland nodded his understand. He rolled two fragmentation grenade next to the pistol magazines after ensuring they were both set to the safe position. "Have you had any sign of the Covenant or Insurrectionists?" Roland probed to see what these kids knew.

"Whats a Covenant?" Mako spoke for the first time in a few minutes. "Or an Insurrectionist for that matter?"

"Alien race, trying to eradicate humanity? Any of that ring a bell?" All three stared at him blankly. "How about people rebelling against the government, blowing up their own people to try to get their way." Still blank expressions so in about five minutes, Roland gave them a run down of the textbook history of the Human-Covenant war along with a taste of the Insurrectionist engagements from before.

All three sat with mouths agape as Roland finished by explaining how glassing worked and all that the UNSC had done to try to stop them. "So what do you do?" Korra asked as he finished up his tale from the stars.

Roland paused and looked the three over once more. Still unsure if he should play all of his cards or not yet, but he did owe this girl his life for healing him. He took a deep breath and began. "When I was twelve or so, I was given an offer to become a soldier. Not just any soldier, but the best kind. I would be one of the tip of the spear in order to help slow the Covenant war machines advance. I jumped at the chance and I was initially trained to be a storm trooper with the rest of my class. We were to be sent on suicide missions with almost no hope of return."

"So, what happen to you then?" Korra inquired with a look of shock, both because he had started becoming a warrior at twelve and that so many lives could be thrown away so easily.

"Well, just before our first few missions were successful, a few of us were paired up and sent to follow on training." Roland picked up the last charge of C12 and the detonator, also setting them beside the magazines. "Several of us from my class were given the chance to become headhunters. That is where we learned to not just be killers, but assassins. Either with guns," Roland held up his pistol magazine. "knives," He held a combat knife, not much different than the one Jonah had always carried "explosives," He placed the grenades and C12 back into the pack. "or our bare hands."

"Sounds fun." Mako commented from the corner off Roland's left side. He had taken up what he thought would be the best point to take the Spartan out if he needed to.

"You know," Roland placed several days worth of rations and a first aid kit along with additional medical equipment with the growing pile. "if you were going to hit me, my right side is slightly weaker with the bone not being fully reattached yet."

Mako nodded and stayed where he was. "So what were you called?" Korra questioned him further as she walked over to the kitchen table and picked up the L shaped piece of metal and handed it over to him "We found this with you too, plus all your armor, but we couldn't bring it all back."

Roland flashed her a wonderful smile as she handed over his M6C. A quick mag check and chamber check confirmed the pistol was loaded and had a full magazine, bringing his total number to one hundred and twenty rounds of .50 ACP. "My unit and the lineage we take from is called the Spartans." He aimed down the sights of his pistol. Without the helmet HUD link it wouldn't take some getting used to again. "I am a _Headhunter_." He emphasized the name as he finished unpacking his bag. He had set aside a pair of ultra light fatigue pants that he never thought he would have needed, and a black athletic under shirt, and a holster for the M6C.

As he placed the undershirt over his head, he could see the confusion in Korra's face. "What's on your mind?" He asked her.

"So, all of this happened when you were younger?" Korra asked with a look of shock in her eyes.

Roland removed his silkies and stood their stark naked from the waist down as he put his pants on. They had been on him for the three days Jonah and he had been planet side so he was ready to get them off. "Yes, most of it was when I was a new teenager I went on my first combat mission at fifteen. We all went through the augmentation process when I was fourteen. Stronger muscles, harder metal infused bones, quicker reflexes. All around, better warriors than normal, but it was a agonizing experience."

Korra was too shocked to speak as he slid his belt into place. First, and most importantly, that was the first time in her seventeen years she had seen a man stark naked. And he did it so unashamedly it caught her off guard for a moment. Second he was barely a teenager when all that happen to him. "Um…" Korra blushed slightly "So how old are you exactly?"

Roland finished by sliding the holster into his waistband in front of his appendix and sliding his knife onto his left hip. "I just turned eighteen about a week ago." He grinned, looked at his feet and wiggled his toes. "Any chance of getting some shoes?" For the first time since laying eyes on him, Korra didn't see a hardened warrior, but instead saw a boy not much different than herself. Trained from a young age to fight, being thrown into situations she didn't necessarily want to be in. Having the weight of the world on her shoulders! This guy could understand at least some of that better than anyone she knew.

"Back up a second." Mako said, stepping out from the corner now and walking towards Roland. "You're only eighteen?"

"Yes." Roland didn't really understand the looks all three of them were giving him. Every other eighteen year old he knew looked the exact same as he did.

"But you look like you're at least twenty five." Mako looked the Spartan over once more. His muscle structure and facial features all led him to believe that he was more than eighteen years of age. "How can that be?"

Roland shrugged. "Augmentations." Was his mater of a fact answer before he looked at his feet again. "Shoes?"

Mako sighed and shook his head out of confusion, glancing down he figured the Spartan was about the same size as him, and while he still didn't get how this all worked, he went into his room to find a pair of shoes he was willing to part with.

"So, what are you going to do here?" Korra asked.

"I'm going to try to get home..." Roland looked about once more. "Tell me what is happening here, do you have faster than light travel?"

"Huh?" Korra raised her eyebrow for the umpteenth time that night.

Roland realized he was asking far too much. "What about space travel at all?" He sent a parting shot in the dark, hoping to get a yes and a way off this rock.

"Like to the stars?" Bolin chimed in from the couch. "Now how would a person do that?"

Roland dropped his chin and took a breath. "I suppose I'll be here a while then."

"Well…" Korra started before she was cut off by Roland.

"Wait. What the hell is up with was that thing you guys did?" Roland inquired.

Korra looked at him oddly. "What thing?"

"With the water, ice" Roland then pointed to Bolin. "and the disks, and the fire."

"Bending?" Korra looked at him quizzically.

Roland shrugged his shoulders, wincing a little at the hurt one. "Sure, if that is what you call it."

Korra knit her eyebrows in thought. "Well, it is something that um… yeah I don't know how to describe it."

"But you can control water, fire, and stone?" Now it was Roland's turn to be confused.

"Some people can control air as well." Bolin chimed in, receiving a glare from Korra."Those are the air temple nomads!"

"Yes, some can control air as well." She muttered in anger.

Roland absentmindedly rolled his hurt shoulder a bit before asking "So, how did you heal me?"

"Well, water can be used to heal as well." Korra thought for a moment. "I didn't really _heal_ you, I just sped up the process your body normal does for healing."

"Well, miss Korra, it seems that I am in your debt." Roland looked straight into her eyes which he noticed were a lovely shade of pale blue that almost seemed out of place against her tan almost brown skin. "I have seen injuries before and I saw my vitals. Without you, I would have died without a doubt."

"Don't mention it…" Korra broke Roland's gaze as her cheeks reddened a little.

"So, can all of you control several elements?" Roland looked at Korra as the color started to fade away. "You used fire to attempt to scare me and water to freeze me."

Korra shrugged. "Not exactly. Only I can use all four elements." Roland looked confused so she elaborated. "I am the Avatar, he or she can use all four elements. I'm supposed to be training to become the protector of the world." Roland chuckled quietly to himself. "What!?" Korra was now glaring at him, and red was returning to her cheeks, but this time out of anger.

Mako also had a bit of a grin on his face as he walked back into the room, having heard parts of the conversation as he was locating a pair of shoes. Roland thought for a moment before speaking. "You are going to be the protector of the world?" Roland strolled back over to the chair and leaned back in the seat. "I do owe you, but I could have taken you easily. This world will be rather interesting indeed."

"Whatdya mean you _could_ have taken me?" Korra's blood boiled with anger and she stood up defiantly. Her mood had shifted 180 degrees from slightly flirtatious to pissed off and ready to fight in seconds.

"I'm just saying, I could have." Roland sat there crossed legged and just looked at her as she stood there fuming.

"Fine then, come at me again." She adamantly took a bending stance and motioned for him to attack at her. Any desire she had to not hurt this Spartan any further was gone, and if Roland had stood up, she would have used a water blast to send him right out the window he'd tried to escape from.

Roland drew his M6C, a standard issue suppressed pistol. "I don't want to fight you. While we aren't exactly friends, you definitely aren't my enemy, and you have helped me, so I have no fight with you and am in your debt."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Korra used a mocking tone as she placed her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue.

Roland looked to Mako. "Are you terribly fond of that pot?" He asked, motioning to a small ceramic pot sitting in the windowsill about two feet to the left of Korra.

"No, not particu…" PFFT! Crash! The sound of the suppressed M6C resounded throughout the room. Each of the three benders felt the thump in their gut. _Ting ting ting_ … the .50 casing rattled to a stop on the wooden floor as the air filled with an acrid stench of cordite that burned their nostrils when they inhaled.

Mako and Bolin's mouths were agape. "What was that!?" Korra asked as she side stepped the window. The vase had shattered and the round continued onward out into the bay.

"The reason I could win. Unless you can detect and stop a bullet flying through the air at you." Korra shook her head and sat back down, shocked and afraid of this weapon that Roland carried.

"Sorry I had to do that. Just didn't want you to think I was completely helpless." Roland winked at her as set the safety and holstered his pistol. _One Hundred, nineteen left._ His inner count had already begun.

Korra nodded silently. Apparently, there was more to this Spartan than she had thought.

"So, all you are doing is training?" Roland assumed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I trained for years, but it can get real old real quick."

"Well, she is." Mako said. "The three of us are in a competition together as well. It pits benders against each other in a ring. We are actually headed to the finals now." Mako's chest swelled slightly with pride for his team.

"So, that's it? Not to sound disappointed, but I figured you" Roland pointed to Korra "as the protector of the world and all, would have some sort of emergency right now."

Korra looked at Mako and Bolin. "Well, there is…Amon" The three of them sat down and took turns explaining what had happened with Amon and his followers. They went into detail about the Equalists and how bending was being removed.

After nearly thirty minutes of explanation, Roland spoke up as he cracked his knuckles. "That's more like it. When do we leave? We can go get him now."

"No, not yet." Korra looked at the two brothers and then the clock on the wall. The sun would be rising very soon. "Y'all should get some sleep."

"What about him?" Bolin asked.

"I'm sure Tenzin won't mind him coming to the island for a few nights." Korra stood to leave and Roland followed suit.

Mako still didn't seem totally convinced by the concept of Roland staying on the island with Korra. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"Do you have a better one?" Korra asked. "The other options are throwing him out on the street or leave him with you."

Bolin looked around. "Well, we do have plenty of floor space."

Korra shook her head. "No, he'll be fine with me." She looked him up and down once more. "And I still say I can take him, unless he tries that trick again. Besides, like he said, he owes me. The least he can do is help as a guard or something."

"I can do that." Roland said patting his M6C.

Korra walked out of the room. "Or, I can always just use him as a training dummy." She hollered as she left.

Roland grinned and followed her out. He wasn't sure how he got here, but this would be very interesting world indeed.

 **Let me know what you think! I changed the infamous .45 ACP to .50 ACP from my first go around. Lemme know if you see any spelling or grammatical errors and I'll get em fixed promptly!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Alright, Here's Chapter 2! This is still not my stuff…**

 **Chapter Two**

Tenzin, the sole Airbending Master and the youngest son of Avatar Aang was slowly pacing about the terrace that overlooked the dock leading to Republic city. He was worried sick about Korra. While she was the Avatar, she was also still a young woman with no experience in the city, especially this late at night. His pacing led him past the guard shack for the hundredth time that night and he stepped inside.

"Good Evening, Master Tenzin." One of the White Lotus guards stood from his seat and bowed out of respect. He was a non-bender, and carried a short sword on his belt and a long spear that rested in the corner. Behind him a clock showed that it was almost four in the morning.

"Good evening, Jin." Tenzin glanced at the rotary phone mounted to the wall. He was considering calling the police station and reporting the Avatar missing, but quickly realized that could send them into a panic. "Any word from the guard posts of Korra coming up from a different direction?"

Lin shook his head. "I just returned from my rounds five minutes ago, sir. No one has seen or heard from her since she left this morning."

Tenzin sighed deeply and rubbed his hand across his bald head. "Very well…"

"I've told the men to alert me as soon as she is spotted. I'm sure she is alright, sir." Lin spoke softly, trying to encourage the older man.

"Agni, I hope so…" Tenzin shook his head to clear some of his sleepy fog and walked back outside to the path he was wearing into the grass to continue his pacing. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed blue and white movement. It took his eyes a moment in the darkness, but he recognized the figure of a White Lotus guard was sprinting towards the shack.

With an air bending assisted hop, he landed at the doorway just as the man had started speaking. "Avatar Korra and someone else are swimming in on here Polar Bear dog from the city right now!" The guard spoke quickly before gasping for air after his armored sprint.

Tenzin wasted no time, moving down to the dock on an air scooter to wait for the young Avatar to emerge. After about two minutes, he could make out a small wake in the water and the white form of Naga kicking towards them.

"Tenzin!" Korra stood up on Naga's saddle and waved before jumping into the water and bending herself over to dock. The water turned to partially to ice on the surface, allowing her to slide the last few feet and slam into Tenzin's chest to meet him with a hug.

"Korra, where have you been? I was worried sick!" Tenzin held his hands on her shoulders after breaking the hug. Any plan he had to seriously scold her or punish her was gone when he felt as if she was trembling.

"We were at Amon's rally." She hung her head in shame, knowing he had expressly forbidden her to go there. "I had to see for myself, Tenzin…. He can take people's bending away… for good."

"Then he is much more of a threat then the council and I anticipated." Tenzin hugged her once more. He looked around and noticed Naga standing behind her and a man climbing down out of her saddle. He was clean cut, with grey pants and a black t-shirt that looked nothing like the style from the city, or any he had ever seen before. He had a bag slung over his shoulder and he just seemed to be waiting for them to finish.

"And just who are you?" Tenzin moved to place himself between Korra and the man, even though he had just seen her riding up with him.

"Tenzin, this is Roland." Korra moved past him to where she now stood between the two. Roland approached by taking two long strides forward and reached out to shake Tenzin's hand at the same moment that Tenzin bowed. They both looked at each other for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth the explanation.

"Sir, I have a feeling you're gonna need to be brought up to speed a bit." Roland glanced at Korra and then looked around at the air temple a bit. High towers and lots of curves seemed to make up the entire building, it was very Hindu monkesk. Not that Roland had ever visited the Hindus, but he'd read about them. Most of the windows were darkened as it was late, but a few were lit with air acolytes awakening to begin their day.

Tenzin nodded slowly. "Let's go into the tea room." He looked at the dark night sky and saw the tiniest hints of sunrise to the East. He shook his head and turned, knowing he wasn't going to be getting much sleep.

Korra led the way and immediately grabbed a pair of apples from the tea table. She bit into one and tossed the second to Roland "Humfgy?" she muttered through the apple bits.

Roland caught it and nodded his thanks before taking a seat. "Korra don't talk with food in your mouth!" Tenzin scolded as the three eased into the cross legged position around the low table. As the sun rose, Korra explained everything that had happened at the rally with Amon and how she had come across Roland in the alley way while fleeing. Then he took over and explained about his background as a UNSC Spartan and what he remembered from before he blacked out and woke up with Bolin over him. The two both conveniently left out the small fight that had happened in the guys attic room.

"You said you saw a large flash of light and then he was laying there?" Tenzin rubbed his eyes sleepily as he asked. It had been a long night indeed.

"Yes, it was kind of purplish, and there was a wave of heat too, but then I heard a clanking sound and he was here." Korra said for the third time.

Tenzin stroked his beard in thought. "And you say you just remember an explosion?"

Roland nodded. "We had explosives all over that area. C12 combined with the plasma makes quite a big boom."

Tenzin stood and stretched his tired bones while looking out the window. Staying up this late was a young man's game, not his own anymore. He measured each word carefully before speaking them. "I do not know of the science or magic from you world, Roland." He turned to face the two sitting at the table once more. "However, to me, this sounds like the works of the spirit world."

Korra shot a quick glance at Roland who raised his eyebrow in question. "Spirit world?" He inquired almost sarcastically. The only references he had for spirits were from his studies. Many ancient races worshiped their ancestors and built shrines to them. "Like ghosts who haunt you?"

"Somewhat… In our world, the Spirits live in a separate world of their own. Many Spirits can come in and out of our world, but only the Avatar can go into the Spirit world and return." Tenzin paused in thought for a moment. "Well, I guess the late General Iroh was an exception. But from what I have heard, it wasn't easy."

Now it was Roland who thought these people were crazy. If anything, he would have chalked it up to the force of the plasma explosion somehow ripping time and space apart and sending him here. He and Jonah had never actually been briefed on what was being researched in the covenant facility they had destroyed.

"Well, either way. I am here now and Korra saved my life." Roland unconsciously rolled his shoulder again. He knew how much damage he had sustained, the vitals display in his HUD had made it quite clear and he had resigned himself to die, but somehow this seventeen year old had saved him. "The least I can do is help y'all out some."

"That is precisely it" Tenzin nodded as he sat back down. "The Spirits are the one's who granted the first human's and animals the ability to bend. Without them, you might well have succumbed to your injuries."

Roland wasn't sure if it was the loss of blood, the forty hours lack of real sleep, or a concussion, but his head pounded in pain as he tried to understand this alien world. "Animals can bend the elements too?" He placed his head in his hands and rubbed his temples.

"Not all of them, just a few." Korra tried to reassure Roland that he wasn't insane. She couldn't help but notice the scars on his hands and arms now. They were thin, and obviously several years old, but it looked as if his body had been flayed apart in places.

"I'm sure I'll wrap my head around this with a little sleep." Roland wished for a stim pack. Just a little something to perk his mind a bit.

Tenzin nodded and stood to his feet. "I'll inform the guards that you are a guest and are to be treated with the utmost respect."

"Thanks, Tenzin." Korra smiled as she and Roland also stood.

"Well, morning is upon us, and none of us has had a wink of sleep. I am going to try to rest until the noon meal, but I'm sure Meelo will have none of it." Korra smirked as the image of Tenzin's son Meelo jumping upon him the second he laid down flashed through her mind.

"We can figure out a proper rooming arrangement for you at lunch, Roland. For now, Korra, you can find somewhere for Roland to sleep."

"I don't know which rooms are where…" Korra said, as she tried to orient herself. She thought the male dormitory was off of the temple, facing the Sky Bison stables.

Tenzin sighed and waved his hand towards her as he walked towards his room. "Just get an air acolyte to direct you and we'll ensure it is set up at lunch."

"Okay!" Korra turned and ran off with far to much energy for not having slept. The firebender in her loved the sunrise, although she knew the high would wear off shortly she wanted to make the most of it.

"Thank you, sir. Have a good few hours of sleep." Roland bowed and turned to followed Korra towards the dormitories. He could never get used to how civilians thought they needed SO much sleep. If he got three hours of unbroken sleep, he could function for more than twenty hours without an issue, thirty or more with a stim pack. Most civilians wanted at least eight or ten.

"Sorry, but I am still rather new here myself." Korra said from up ahead as she spoke with an air acolyte carrying what was obviously a very heavy bail of hay towards the sky bison stables. "Can you direct me to the empty male rooms?"

The acolyte turned and jerked his head in the direction he had been. "They are over this way, Avatar. Follow me" And with that, he continued walking towards the stables, nearly bumping right into Roland.

Roland laid a hand softly on the man's shoulder to stop him falling over in shock. "Would you like a hand with that, friend?" He asked a gently as possible with a smile. Even out of his armor, Roland stood at nearly six and a half feet tall, making him one of the shorter Spartan III's and a massive two hundred and forty pounds. The armor added a few inches and a couple pounds, but this giant before the man was nothing but pure Spartan.

"Uhhhh…." The acolyte dropped his bale of hay and murmured in shock, unsure how to respond.

"It's alright!" Korra laughed as she gently shook the man. "Roland is a new friend of mine, and he'll be staying with us for a while."

Roland hoisted the bale of hay up onto his shoulder as if it was a bag of air and motioned with his free hand. "Lead the way."

Without a word, the man slowly led the way towards the rooms. Korra followed the two with a massive smile on her lips. When they reached the male dormitory the unoccupied doors were open and Roland simply squatted down to lean his bag against the frame before standing back up and looking at the acolyte once more. "Should we feed your bison?" He asked kindly. He truly did not mean to scare these people, but the man still hadn't said a word.

"Ummmm…" The bison have been let out for the morning" The man finally stammered out. "But you can just set it by the door over there."

Roland looked in the direction where the man was pointing. It was about twenty yards to a barn style door that must have led to the stables. Placing a hand on either side of the bundle, he thrust it in the direction of the wall. With a thwack, the bundle impacted a few feet off the ground before landing with a thud in the dirt.

The acolyte had watched the bundle soar through the air and land before turning to look back up at the Spartan. For the last six months he had been on bison duty and had struggled under these bundles every single day. Seeing that display caused him to go mute once more and simply stare.

"Oh, he's just showing off!" Korra shoved the man gently to snap him out of it. With a bow and no words, he turned and hustled over to the stables.

"I didn't mean to scare him so badly…" Roland smiled sheepishly.

"I know." Korra beamed up at him with delight. To her, it was amazing to see the two sides of Roland. The super soldier who seemed to have unrivaled strength, and then a boyish smile that made her heart flutter. "They'll get used to you." She leaned to the side to look past him into the room. "Are you gonna be okay in there?"

Roland glanced back into the room. It had a simple bed with a night stand, a chest of drawers, and a chair against the wall. "I'm sure I'll be just fine, I've slept in worse places than this for sure." He said as he turned back to face her.

Korra had shifted to tucking one arm behid her back and with the other she was fidgeting with her belt. Neither was sure what else to say, so they stood there for awkwardly for a few moments.

Finally she broke the silence. "I guess you'll have to tell me some time." She desperately wanted to get to know him better, but social graces aren't taught on the planet Onyx so Roland merely nodded to her and turned to leave.

"Sleep well, Korra." He said over his shoulder as he absentmindedly closed the door.

Korra's face fell slightly as he turned away. "You too…" She said softly as the door clicked shut. For a few moments she contemplated knocking and asking to come in and talk more, but maybe he wasn't interest in her that way, and his body definitely needed sleep. As the thought of sleep crossed her mind, she felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over her.

Korra turned and strolled back to her room, finding the door open as she left it and Naga curled up on the rug, taking up half of the room. The smell of wet dog hit Korra as she crossed the threshold and she realized she forgot to dry Naga off. She squeezed past and opened the window before bending all the water out of Naga's fur without waking her.

With that, Korra kicked off her boots, leaned back onto her bed. Her mind raced with thoughts and sleep didn't come easy at first. She thought of the Chi blockers she and Mako had fought and lost to what felt like days ago, but really had just been a few hours before. She thought of Amon and what he represented for the future or Republic City and for herself. She thought of Mako and Bolin and how glad she was that they were both alright, and finally she thought of the Spartan sleeping a few buildings away from her and what him coming here would do to change her life. Finally after several minutes she drifted into a strange, fitful sleep sleep.

While Korra had walked back and laid there thinking, Roland did a quick scan of the room. THe window and door were the only exits, so he placed the chest of drawers in front of the door and ensured the window was latched from the inside. Satisfied with his meager defesnive posture, he simply slid off the shoes Mako had given him, pulled his shirt over his head, placed his knife and holster on the night stand and laid down on top of the made bed. He pulled his M6C from the holster, checked to ensure the safety was on, and slide his arm under the pillow before rolling onto his side. This placed his back against the wall and his head facing the door. His eyes eased shut and moments later, he was asleep.

 _Pat pat pat… Korra's eyes shot open to the soft foot falls of someone running in the hallway outside her door. She stared at the window for a moment, confused as to why it was dark now. Had she slept all day? Shaking her head and still feeling exhausted, she flipped her pillow to the cool side and laid her head back down. Just as her cheek touched the cool fabric a chi blocker burst through the window a few feet from her face. She was up in a moment, spinning and sending a blast of fire into the chest of her assailant from her foot, knocking him back through the window he had entered though just as two more blockers broke down the door. They immediately dodged her attacks and closed with her in order to counter with their own._

 _Korra managed to get a solid fire hit on one of them as the second slid inside of her attack and landed several strikes on her right side. She felt her body go limp but managed to fire once more by throwing her left arm across her chest. The last shot was simply out of the last of her hope and it missed completely. This time, the other chi blocker struck her twice on her left side and once on the neck, which caused her entire body to fall out from under her. She landed on her chest, which forced her face painfully into the floor._

 _As she laid crumpled onto the ground, she noticed the spot where Naga should have been. Why wasn't she helping her? Heavy foot steps echoed in the hall and she was sure help had arrived. Was it Roland wielding his powerful pistol or Tenzin with his airbending?_

 _As the shaped of a man crossed the threshold, what she saw took her breath away. It was Amon. His brazen presence on Air Temple Island took her breath away and he simply strolled into the room and looked about. "After I take your bending away, you will be nothing." His menicing voice filled the room as he stooped down and his hand filled her vision. Air entered Korra's lungs and she managed on last scream._

She jolted awake to Naga standing over her with head on her outside shoulder. She licked her face softly to try to reassure her that it would be alright. It had all been just a dream.

"Naga?" Korra pitifully moaned as she threw her arms around the Polar Bear Dogs massive neck and wept softly for a minute or more.

Naga pulled free after the crying slowed and licked Korra across her face again, trying to comfort her friend. "I'm alright now, girl." Korra said as she slid her feet onto the ground. She dressed quickly, ran her fingers through her bed head before placing it in her traditional way with a high ponytail and two piece of hair hanging down past her ears. With that, her stomach rumbled and she strolled out the door looking for food.

She found Tenzin and his family sitting down to what she thought was lunch in the dining room. "Where is Roland?" She inquired.

"I thought I would let him sleep." Tenzin replied. "After such an injury, I'm sure his body needs time to heal."

"Well, I'm glad I made it in time for lunch." Korra smiled as she sat down and pulled a plate of stewed seaweed towards her.

Tenzin's wife, Pema smiled sweetly at her as she started to inhale her food. "Korra, my dear, this is dinner."

Korra almost chocked as she looked up. "Reawwy?" she swallowed loudly to Tenzin's chagrin.

"Korra, please don't talk with food in your mouth!" He signed and shook his head while the children laughed.

"Korra slept all day!" Miki, the middle child laughed.

"But I still feel exhausted…" Korra sighed as she took another massive bite.

"You did have a very busy day…" Tenzin reminded her.

She looked up and slurped a weed into her mouth. This time swallowing before she spoke. "Is there any meat with this meal?" She asked, knowing full well the answer was no. The Air benders treated all life as sacred, and because of that, they were vegetarians.

Tenzin sighed once more. "No Korra, there is not. There has never been meat at a meal since you got here…"

Korra shot a knowing glance to Pema who looked down and smiled shyly without Tenzin seeing her. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, and upon finishing, Tenzin stood.

"Get some more rest, Korra." He turned to leave with a swirl of his cloak. "We will continue with your air bending lessons in the morning."

"Horray…." Korra sighed sarcastically.

Shortly, it was just Pema and Korra sitting at the table. Pema glanced down the hall before pulling a small covered bowl from under the table. "Here, sweetie. I hope you feel better"

Korra smiled broadly. "Meat!" She exclaimed softly as she devoured the bowl. The Southern water tribe where she grew up was definitely not vegetarian, and Pema knew how much a little taste of home could help boost someone's spirits.

"I know Tenzin didn't say too, but why don't you take some food to that mysterious soldier boy?" Pema said as she started making a plate of food.

"I don't want to wake him…" Korra said between bites of succulent Opossum-Chicken. "But I guess I could just leave it inside for when he wake up."

"Good idea." Pema smiled. She finished making the plate and placed another small covered bowl on there with it. "Korra, this is for Roland…" She scolded, not wanting the Avatar to devour the second bowl as well.

"I know…" Korra rolled her eyes and grabbed the plate of food and a clay pitcher of water. "Thanks Pema! You're the greatest!" She hollered as she ran off towards Roland's room.

When she got to the male dormitories she realized her mistake. All the doors looked the exact same and she wasn't sure which one was his. Holding the pitcher in one hand with the plate balanced on top, she knocked softly on a door. After not getting an answer for a few seconds she eased it open into an empty room. She repeated this twice to no avail, and on the third door, she eased it open to see one of the oldest air acolytes pulling up his pants and nearly dropped the food out of shock.

"Eek" Korra screeched covering her mouth with her hand. The poor old man probably hadn't heard the knock, because he didn't even turn around as Korra slide the door shut.

Finally she came to what had to be Roland's door. She knocked softly and tried to open it, only to have the door barely crack and then bump into something hard. She heard a thud and a painful sigh of "Damn it, who's there!?" Roland hollered sleepily from inside.

"It's Korra." She spoke into the crack. "I brought you some food."

Furniture scraped away from the door and it eased open to reveal Roland's painful face. He was shirtless with his pistol tucked into his pants and his right arm cradled by his left.

"Good Morning" Korra smiled brightly as she stepped into the room.

"Mrpgh" Roland mumbled as he sat back down on the bed and placed his head into his good hand. "My head is pounding..." He stated plainly.

"What was that noise?" Korra asked as she sat the plate onto the chest of drawers.

"Umm…" Roland rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Your knock at the door startled me. I guess I slept on my arm funny with the injury and hen I pulled my pistol up, it fell on the floor."

Korra couldn't help but smile. "You're still not fully healed." She reminded him.

"I know… what time is it?" He asked rubbing his temples again.

Korra shrugged. "It's dinner time, so we both slept most of the day."

Roland looked at her quizzically. "Then why did you say 'Good morning'?"

She kind of shrugged. "It just seemed to fit the mood" She responded with a smile. "Would you like me to heal you some more?" She offered kindly.

Roland though for a moment. His body still hurt, and sleeping on his bad side hadn't helped at all. "Yes, please." He nodded.

Korra had him sit up on the edge of the bed. She grabbed the plate of food and set it to his left along with the pitcher of water. "You should eat while I do this, it's pretty boring."

Roland nodded and relaxed his arm for her. She closed her eyes and bent about half the water out of the pitcher. Roland watched in amazement as the orb of water floated past his face before flowing over his shoulder and chest.

"Feel free to drink the rest of it." Korra said absentmindedly as she started to focus on healing the bones in the same manner as before. Roland nodded his wordless understand as the water started to glow.

Over the next ninety minutes, Roland split his time by slowly eating his meal and watching. He was trying his best not to distract the Avatar at all and so he moved as if he was under observation by the enemy. Slowly moving his good arm down to the food and picked up a peace, then returning it in the same manner and chewing softly, not allowing his movements to affect any other part of his body.

In between bites he watched Korra work. Her arms moved slowly and rhythmically across his skin, and her touch felt soft and comforting. His headache had started to subside and the cooling water felt wonderful where ever it touched, never warming up with his body heat.

The vegetables, rice, tofu, and chicken tasting meat were all quite tasty, but the seaweed was slimy and not at all something he wanted to consume if he could avoid it. He left it piled neatly on the plate before slowly picking up the pitcher and downing it in a few large gulps before placing it back onto the end of the bed.

Finally, Korra looked up at him with her deep blue eyes and smiled. "How's that feeling?" She asked good-heartedly.

The Spartan rolled his shoulder forward, backwards, and shrugged it up and down a few times before responding. "It feels far better. Thank you once again, Avatar." He half bowed with a playful smirk on his face, causing Korra to laugh at the thought of Roland and Tenzin interacting at their first meeting.

"So what do you think of our world?" She inquired once her chuckles had subsided.

Roland stood and opened the window to glance out across the bay at the city. The sun had set and the city was bustling with early evening activities. Back inside, Korra noticed the untouched pile of stewed seaweed and grinned.

"I haven't exactly seen the city yet." Roland reminded her. "But so far you and the people on this island have been quite welcoming and enjoyable to be with." He turned back into the room to face her. "Do you think we'll be able to leave here tomorrow and go into the town?"

"Of course!" Korra beamed. She was excited to have someone to show around, even if she had just recently gotten here herself. "I just have airbending practice with Tenzin and then we can leave."

"Airbending?"

Korra's face fell slightly. "Yeah… it has been the only element I can't learn."

"When did you learn the other three?" Roland asked.

"When I was two, pretty much as soon as I could walk." Korra smiled this time.

"I think I might have been toilet trained when I was two…" Roland's attempt at humor succeeded at getting a bigger smile from Korra.

"Master Katara always told me, 'Everyone has to start somewhere' but with this airbending…" Korra saddened again "I just feel constantly lost right now."

Roland nodded and tried to empathize. "I failed my first couple of stalks and got my ass thrashed repeatedly because of it…"

"Stalks, like sneaking up on someone?" Korra asked.

"Yeah, before we were given our armor, we had to demonstrate several different basic soldering skills. With stalking you had to use a camouflaged suit to sneak within range of the instructors, fire a shot with your rifle from concealment, and then sneak back the way you came." Korra nodded her understanding before Roland continued. "I would either go too quickly and get busted for being seen moving, or I would go to slow and run out of time before I could get my shot off."

"So how'd you learn it then?"

"My partner Jonah helped me understand how screens work. You use a bush or anything really that is between you and where the observers are at to shield your movement as you approach. That was you can almost walk from screen to screen and get super close in a short amount of time, then you have plenty of time to add vegetation to conceal you and take a good shot."

Korra shrugged. "I wish there was some easy fix for airbending."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Roland stood and stretched his arm. "Do you mind telling me where the head is?" Roland paused for a moment to understand the quizzical look Korra had given him. "Ah, I meant the bathroom, sorry." Naval terms probably wouldn't mean a whole lot to people here.

"Oh, it's out the door, to the left, at the end of the hallway." Korra started piling all the dishes up.

"Ya, ain't gotta leave just yet. I'll be back in a minute." Roland hollered over his shoulder as he stepped out.

Korra placed all the dishes on the chest of drawers and sat back down on the bed. After lighting the lamp on the bedside table she leaned against the headboard and decided she would rest her eyes for just a moment before Roland got back. Healing took quite a bit of energy out of her and she was confident that she would here him enter and wake up.

Two minutes later Roland opened the door and stepped in. He wasn't being overly quite on his approach, but upon seeing the Avatar passed out in his bed he made sure his every move was as stealthy as possible. He gingerly pulled the loose blanket on top of Korra before taking the folded quilt at the foot of the bed and creating a pillow for himself on the floor. In minutes he too had fallen asleep to the sounds of her soft rhythmic breathing.

 _Pat pat pat… Korra's eyes shot open once again to the soft foot falls of someone running in the hallway outside her door. She stared at the doorway for a moment before the scene around her jolted her memory. Instead of laying back down as before she bolted up right and took a bending stance in the corner. This way she could see both the door way and the window._

 _Just then a chi blocker burst through the window like the previous dream and just like before she sent a blast of fire into the chest of her assailant from her foot, knocking him back through the window. As soon as she had attacked though, Korra pivoted on her other foot and sent a massive nearly uncontrolled fiery eruption at the door way. Her timing was almost perfect as the first chi blocker was badly burned and the second had his arm singed enough to force him to fall back._

 _Korra grinned as she moved towards the door. The critically injured woman on the floor moaned and rolled to her side as Korra got closer. A flash of clothing darted past the door way and Korra sent another flame thrower like attack into the hallway. Over the roar of the fire, she couldn't hear the soft landing and three quick steps of the equalist who entered the window behind her. With two quick blows to her side and one to her neck, Korra felt her body go limp and the wooden floor filled her view once again._

 _The impact on the floor was face first this time, and even though it was a dream she still cringed in pain. As she laid crumpled onto the ground, heavy foot steps echoed in the hall once more. Korra thrashed and shook in her mind, but her body wouldn't react. This time she was hauled to her knees and made to sit before the monster._

 _His sinister mask filled her vision as he leaned over in front of her face. "After I take your bending away, you will be nothing." His menicing voice filled the room as he straightened up and placed his hand across her face. Air entered Korra's lungs, but this time instead of a scream, she answered with a blast of fire before she awoke._

Korra glanced around to see Roland standing beside the bed with his hand firmly on her shoulder. The lamp had been knocked off the table and the wooden rafters were singed above her. "Did I do that?" She asked timidly.

Roland nodded his head. "Go back to sleep." He patted her on the shoulder and sat down on the side of the bed. He sat there for several minutes watching her, but her eyes never shut. She simply stared at the ceiling, rarely blinking and not moving.

"Korra, go back to sleep." Roland said quietly.

"I can't. I'll have another dream." She sat up and looked around the room. The moonlight was shining in the window and by it should could see Roland had been sleeping on the floor.

"This Amon guy is really getting to you, isn't he?" The Spartan sighed. Korra nodded and didn't seem as if she would move at all. The shadows danced as a cloud rolled past the moon outside. Korra looked him over quickly in the darker room to allow herself to think of something else. To her, he was a very good looking guy. For all his strength and augmentations his muscles weren't massive. They were however very well defined and lean, and the moonlight only helped his good looks. Thankfully none of his scars extended to his face, and it was probably one of the only places on his body that didn't have any.

Roland could see her every look due to his augmentation but wasn't sure the meaning behind them. He simply reached down and pushed her feet back towards her a bit and sat across the foot of his bed, resting against the wall. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here if you need me to wake you up from another dream."

Korra smiled sadly and rolled up into a ball. She was embarrassed at the weakness and fear she was showing around Roland. No wonder he didn't respect her as the Avatar. All he had seen of her was a quick bending display and now this. At least she could trust him, regardless of if the Spirits sent him or if it was just an accident, he seemed to be an amazing guy and wasn't going to harm her. She finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep, no dreams of any kind, but all night, she felt the bit of a slump in the mattress where Roland sat, ready to help if needed.

Korra's eyes opened slowly. The sun was gleaming through her intact window into her eyes as it did every morning. Judging by the height of the sun, it had to be at least eight already. She felt the fire bender in her absorbing the energy that the sun radiated. She sat up and saw that Roland wasn't at her feet like he had been last night. His bag and bed roll were still on the floor, but he was nowhere to be seen. She heard some grunts and a shout coming from the training grounds, stretched, and decided that would be a good place to check.

Once again, Korra ran her fingers through her hair as she walked towards the courtyard try to straighten it a bit. There were only the sounds of grunts, no blast of earth or any other type of bending. As she left the temple door way, she could see why.

Roland was standing in the center of the training yard with five of the White Lotus guards encircling him. The biggest guard on the island, Parger, a beast of a man from the center of the earth kingdom, was sprawled out nursing several bruises next to Tenzin. Tenzin motioned for Korra to come over by them. She glanced once more at Roland, noting that he only was wearing the clothes he had on for the past two days, while all the guards had training armor on them.

"Korra my dear, would you mind healing Parger for me?" Tenzin asked her kindly as she sat down with them. He had barely broken his gaze from Roland.

"Sure… what happened?" She asked as she drew some water from a nearby fountain and continued to watch Roland.

Parger looked at Tenzin as if asking to tell her. He got a nod in reply. "Well, about twenty minutes ago, I came out here for my usual workout and sparing with the other guards. That guy seemed like he had already been out here for an hour working out. He saw a few of us start to spar and moved aside to make room." Korra applied the healing water to his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "Well, I figured he could be fresh meat and asked to spar with him. At first he refused, but I egged him on until he did. I have never lost like this before…" Parger hung his head.

Now Tenzin spoke up. "I saw Roland throw Parger at the end of their spar and told the other guards if they were going to continue they needed to put on padding." He shook his head in disbelief. "Never in all my travels with my father have I seen someone move as quickly as he does."

"But that is five on one!" Korra exclaimed as she looked at the group again.

Parger rolled his eyes. "Roland asked for it that way. He just specified no bending for now."

Korra's eyebrows scrunched and she scrutinized Roland from a distance. The five guard were circling like buzzard wasps ready for a kill. They were a mix of water, earth, and fire benders, and Roland had simply taken a fighting stance in the middle of the group. Even though they were benders, all White Lotus guards learned martial arts and he had let himself get surrounded.

" _That's odd. Even I know not to get surrounded like that."_ Korra thought to herself.

Even without their bending, they were all trained men who knew how to fight and had a combined forty years of experience between them. Roland still stood there. His eyes watched their hips the entire time, never looking at the eyes or hands. Finally, one of the guards broke the stalemate. He rushed forward with a wicked right hook to try to catch Roland by surprise.

Korra almost missed Roland duck into the blow, grab the man, and use his momentum to throw him into another guard behind him. The second man tried to dodge but instead took the full weight of his friend to the chest and they crumpled to the ground unharmed. As the two guards tried to recover, another tried to high kick Roland. He stepped into the blow again, catching the leg as it impacted his ribs which caused the attacked to yelp in pain. Roland smirked and swept his leg out from under him and simply threw the man onto his back.

Korra almost shouted out a warning as one of the final two guards grabbed Roland in a headlock from behind and the other drew back to bash his face in. These guards were tired of their mates being made into fools. Roland seemed to succumb to the headlock and didn't really fight back but remained standing. As the man threw his punch though, Roland dropped his weight like a sack of bricks, causing the guard holding him to pitch forward, unable to adjust for the heavy load. As he fell downward the other smashed his fist into his friends face causing the headlock to be broken. From nearly on the ground Roland performed a simple leg sweep, knocking this man to his back as well.

Having lost the element of surprise and most of the numerical advantage, the two guards he had knocked down first tried to simply rush him together to tackle him. Roland threw an elbow into ones face as he smashed the others instep. They both fell to the ground shouting in pain. As one of the other guards would stand, Roland would take him down more violently each time. This went on for a few more minutes before Tenzin stood up.

"Master Roland. I believe you have shown us all who the best here is at fighting hand to hand. I would appreciate it if you did not kill or maim any of my guards."

Roland bowed with a smile. "Of course sir, but mind you, they did start it."

"I am aware. Thank you for the demonstration of your strength. There is a bathroom through there if you would like to clean up for breakfast." Tenzin pointed out the faculties before turning back to Korra.

Roland followed the two walking guards towards where Parger and Korra were sitting. The two guards help Parger up and they moved towards the bathroom.

Roland smiled sheepishly at Korra as he walked past. "Sorry I left this morning, but the sun was up and you seemed fine."

Korra finally closed her mouth after watching Roland. "Don't worry about it…. Nice moves out there." She mumbled. "I guess your arm is doing better?"

Roland stopped and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah thanks again for healing it. Sometimes it's hard to remember they aren't trying to kill me and to hold myself back." He turned and continued towards the showers. "I doubt you would appreciate it if I killed six of your guards by punching my fist through their skulls."

Korra was slightly horrified at the thought. "See you at breakfast?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course, kicking ass and looking good makes me hungry!" Roland yelled as he entered the bathroom.

Korra blushed slightly and headed towards the dining room. If only Roland knew how true that statement really was.

Roland showered quickly. He had felt a pang of guilt when he told that phrase to Korra. He and Jonah had used it several times just before they removed their helmets and paused to eat field rations. Roland really had no idea where Jonah could be, but if he was here somewhere, super soldiers don't exactly stay hidden for long.

Roland quickly washed his clothes, but couldn't get all of the water out of them and still make it to breakfast. _"Oh well, it has been worse than damp skivvies"_ He thought as he dressed and headed to the dining room.

Everyone else was already seated when he walked in. "I am sorry. I couldn't get all of the water out of my clothes." Roland said motioned to himself

"Here, let me." Korra jumped up to help him as two younger girls giggled in the back ground.

Roland looked at them and Tenzin's wife quizzically, he figured Tenzin was a monk, you know, no family or anything, but must have been wrong.

Korra bent the water out of Roland's clothes and smiled at him again. He smiled back as best he could and took a seat next to her. All this attention from a female… Roland wasn't sure if he even liked it that much, but it was very different tan anything he had known in the UNSC.

Tenzin blessed their food and then they started to eat. Moments later the verbal barrage worse than a Covenant glassing hit his ears all at once.

"Who are you?" Ikki

"Why are you here?" Meelo

"Where are you from?" Jinora

"What's your name?" Meelo

"Why do you dress weird like that" Ikki

"Will you be with us for a while?" Jinora

"Why do you have on those old shoes?" Ikki

"Do you want to meet Oogi?" Meelo

"Children, allow Mr. Roland to eat for a moment before you shower him with questions." Tenzin scolded the children. As Roland started to eat, he was introduced to the family. "Roland, this is my family, my wife Pema, she is pregnant with our fourth child, my eldest daughter Jinora, my middle child Ikki, and my son Meelo." Roland nodded at each of them and tried to speak before he was showered with questions again. Several more were asked, but one stood out the most.

"Do you like Korra?" Ikki, the middle child asked bluntly.

Korra almost spit her mouthful of eggs across the table at Ikki. Roland wasn't exactly sure how to reply to her question. "Umm…. Well, she is very nice." Korra blushed fiercely. "But I don't think I am very likeable." Roland bent down as if to tell Ikki a secret but he spoke in a loud whisper. "Plus, I don't have very much experience with women." Roland smiled at Ikki and went back to his breakfast. Tenzin had chuckled a bit and Korra was finding her food very interesting.

"Why is Roland here, daddy?" Jinora asked.

"Well, he will be staying with us for awhile." Pema explained for her husband. She had already been told of the entire situation. "We are still trying to decide how he got here, but he is welcome as long as he wants." Roland silently nodded his thanks to Pema.

"Hey mister, what do you do?" Meelo spoke up next. Roland thought for a moment as this could be a touchy subject.

"I am a soldier for a giant military. I got to fight in many battles and a big mistake happen on my last one, but somehow I ended up here." Roland took a bite of some type of fruit. He decided to focus on his eggs instead. At least there was one dishes that really could never change.

"Oooo" Jinora spoke next. "Did you have any warrior friends? I read this book once where these three soldiers took on an entire army and survived. Did you do anything like that?"

Roland nodded. "Something like that."

The children seemed as if they were about to ask more questions, but Pema silenced them with a look. "What will you do here, Roland?" she asked kindly.

Roland thought for a moment. "I am not really sure at all. I have been taught quite a few skills, but all of them pertain to the battlefield. I am sure I can find something to help with my cost of living here."

"Nonsense! You needn't pay us a yuan to live here." Pema smiled pleasantly.

"Well, thank you for the offer, but I must find something to do, even if it is just for pocket change." Roland knew that he also might go stir crazy if he never left the island.

Tenzin thought for a moment. "Would you be interested in teaching Korra how to fight?"

Korra's head shot up from her plate and she shot daggers at Tenzin with a glare. Roland looked at her and back at him. "I wouldn't mind, but why does she need it? She already knows how to bend, and even a few basic fighting styles outside of bending."

"I know, however, all of the fighting styles we teach relate to bending or are bending moves in themselves. You fight in a way that I have never encountered before." Korra glared at Tenzin as if she couldn't stand the thought. "Plus, with the threat that these chi blockers pose, a fighting style that doesn't need bending would be a great thing for the Avatar to learn. You could also continue to teach our White Lotus men and that can be your way of covering your expenses, and we can even pay you so you can have some money to go out on the town."

"Very well, I can start as soon as you would like me to." Roland said as he wiped his plate with a piece of his toasted bread.

"Korra, you and Sifu Roland can start training after you let your breakfast settle." Tenzin said as if the matter was settled.

"Sifu Roland?" Korra moaned and leaned her head and arms back in dismay. "Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"What is a Sifu?" Roland looked around the table for an answer.

"It means master or trainer." Jinora chimed in brightly. "So it means Master Roland."

Roland grinned and glanced at Korra. "There is no need for that, although it does have a nice ring to it. Korra, we can start in an hour. You might want to get some training pads and some water." Roland bowed to Tenzin and left the room to go prepare.

"Really!?" I don't want to have to learn from another person!" Korra argued when Roland was out of earshot. "And this one is my friend and you're immediately making me work for him!"

"Oh well. This will be great for you to learn, and you might actually need it someday." Tenzin said as Korra stood to leave. "Remember, Roland said to be there in one hour."

"Hmph." Korra threw her head back a bit as she walked out to Ikki and Jinora laughing.

"I have a meeting with the council today. I will stop by to see how your training goes when I return." Tenzin smiled to himself as she stalked off. If there was a way to keep her from getting into more trouble this was probably it.

 **Well that's a wrap. It's over twice as long as the first go around and I feel like t flows far better. Tenzin is not going to just let the Avatar have a guy for a room mate, and this way you still get the bonding between Roland and Korra over the dream, plus some more healing before he starts sparing on a broken shoulder.**

 **If anyone has as suggestion how to do the Ikki, Meelo, Jinora questions at the end there, I'm very open to changing it.**

 **Please review if you liked it, or if you see anything you think should be changed!**


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